Hobbies
by QuiteQuiet
Summary: Weiss distances herself more than usual. Ruby considers it her job to find out what's wrong with her teammate.


_**Author's Note: Hey hey, here's my first official White Rose fanfiction, with a side of Bumbleby. This one-shot came from a prompt sent to me over tumblr. Geeks of the world, enjoy.**_

_**(and for the rest of you, I laid off on the technicalities) **_

* * *

><p>Weiss was hiding something.<p>

To the untrained eye it might seem like a Weiss thing, leaving events early, finding excuses to skip matters she considered _so_ beneath her. "I don't want to play that ridiculous game," she'd scoff at Yang's RPG set up on the library table. "It's so childish, and besides, last time I _lost_." And with a flip of her hair she'd be out of the room.

But Ruby knew her teammate better than that.

They'd become best buds over the semester, as far as the leader was concerned. If they weren't, they'd certainly spent enough time together for her to know when Weiss wasn't just being Weiss. This was a secretive Weiss, and while the idea of solving the mystery filled Ruby with giddy exhilaration, she was also concerned for her partner's health, and took it upon herself to help Weiss through her pain.

"I am not in pain, Ruby, where would you even get that idea?"

"Are you sure? You've been really mopey," said Ruby weakly as Weiss stood dripping wet in a towel.

"I am _not_ mopey, you dunce! Now let me get out of the shower!" She elbowed Ruby aside, turning red as she stalked toward the door.

Looking back, maybe that wasn't the best time for Ruby to ask. But an opportunity had presented itself, after Weiss finished her homework in record time and disappeared from the courtyard without a word.

"We have to track her down," said Ruby to the others. "Pin her to the floor and make her reveal her secrets."

Blake and Yang stared at her, though she was only half-serious; as Ruby shrank back Yang said, "Actually, little sis, Blake and I were going to spend some time at, uh…"

"The gym," said Blake.

"The gym to, you know, work out." They smiled innocently.

"But the gym is closed on Sundays," said Ruby.

"Oh. Well then." Yang looked to the left. "Um, we might just go to the field then, and run some laps, since Weiss is probably in our dorm room—" Blake slapped her on the arm. Yang made a rather uncharacteristic grunt, and they gathered their things before scuttling off.

It was official. Operation Stop Weiss's Distress was up to Ruby and Ruby alone. She returned to their dorm and, turning into their wing, shunted against the wall and began sidling down the doors. Ever so slowly she inched to her destination. She made it to their room, tested the knob…it was locked. Ruby had only jiggled it lightly, as anything louder would have certainly caught her target's attention.

On a normal day Ruby could have opened the door regardless, but she wanted to carry on playing the part. She eased out a hairpin that had been tucked above her ear in case of this very situation, and with a concentration she rarely possessed, picked the lock.

The door opened silently. Ruby looked through the crack to see Weiss hunched on her bed, shoulders rolling slightly as she focused on something in her lap.

"Come on, come on," she muttered. Her elbows propped onto her knees as she leaned in. Ruby only had one chance. She pushed on the door, and when Weiss finally heard the groaning creak it was too late. She looked back and jumped as Ruby rushed towards her, rose petals bursting in her wake.

The device she'd been holding fell to the floor. "Don't!" Weiss yelled at Ruby, warningly but also with terrible desperation.

Ruby picked up the device as Weiss lurched from the bed. "No! Get your grubby hands off my things, you dolt! Haven't you ever heard of manners?" She was doomed, slumped embarrassingly on the floor with her legs still on the sheets. Ruby looked at the screen.

"What will Abigail do?" she said to the balancing sprite that had its back turned. "Jump Kick, duh, it's not like a Lopunny can fight Magneton with Return."

She watched the rabbit down her opponent with a passive face, then turned to Weiss on the floor. Weiss was still compromised, and gasped multiple times in indignation before Ruby spoke.

"This is what you've been hiding?"

Weiss exploded. "It was a dare! I was only testing it out! I'm doing it to study different fighting styles for my personal training!"

Ruby's deadpan expression split into a grin. "_This_ is what you've been hiding?"

It wasn't gloating, just relief, and it was so beaming and positive that Weiss couldn't find it in her to be angry. She closed her eyes. "Yes," she said, teeth grit. "It's what I've been hiding."

She sat back up in the bed. Ruby sifted through Weiss's party to find a contender for the next opponent before coming over. She held out the DS. Weiss stared at her, then grabbed it and kept playing.

Her shoulders rose to her ears as Ruby blathered on. "You don't know how happy this makes me," she said. "I thought something horrible happened, but this is like, the best actual turnout ever!" The buttons clicked louder under Weiss's thumbs. "I mean, all this moping and hiding made me really worried about you, but it turns out that you really just like Po—"

"Shut up, you dolt!" yelled Weiss, whirling around. She saw the shock in Ruby's face. "Close the door," she said more calmly, and Ruby did.

Diana the Frosslass beat a Torterra. "So…how long have you been into this?" Ruby asked.

"Does it matter?" Weiss said, switching her lead after the fight was over.

"Well, yeah, I'm curious. It's not like you're the only one on campus who plays Pokémon," said Ruby. "Yang does it, even in class sometimes. And Blake, but she really needs to balance out her teams. Half the time she thinks it should be all Dark. Hey, are you listening?" she said as Weiss's face pressed harder into the screen. "It's not weird to like Pokémon."

"Maybe for you!" Weiss said. Her lips moved uncertainly as Ruby stood. "It's so…childish," Weiss finally said, falling back on the sheets. She lifted the DS with one hand and stared into it. "These games, this whole franchise, it's for kids. Board game enthusiasts. Losers. You'd think I'd outgrow it along with the show."

"Hey, there are some really neat battle scenes in the show now," said Ruby, and Weiss plugged her ears.

Ruby came over to her curled teammate. "It's just a game," she tried, and after a lack of response, she touched Weiss's arm. Weiss twitched, then sighed and rolled onto her back.

"_Me_," she said, and strangely she felt a choke in her throat. "Weiss Schnee. Heiress to one of the most important companies in the world. Top of her class in grades. And I play Pokémon. This isn't fair."

She covered her face. Ruby waited out the melodrama.

"Weiss, people in their thirties still play Pokémon," she assured the ego-stricken girl. "It's a fun game. They do things to keep us hooked. And it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone."

"You won't?" said Weiss pitifully.

"Nope."

"Not even Blake and Yang?"

"Nope." Ruby shook her head.

"They're not outside the door, are they?"

"No. They're probably making out under the bleachers or something."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, they're dating, aren't they?"

"No?"

"Are you sure?"

Ruby's head was tilted down at her, and in the next second Weiss blinked.

She sat up. "I never noticed," she said curtly.

"Well, sometimes they go off places and get all secretive and vague. Kind of like you, actually."

"Ruby Rose—"

"I mean, did you notice they disappeared at the last dance?"

"Ruby!"

"What?"

"Stay on topic," said Weiss. "And promise not to tell anyone about this."

Ruby put her hands up. "I promise."

"Good." And Weiss went back to playing.

Ruby watched her for some time, leading her party through a cave, grinding for their next major match at a gym. "You really know how to play," she said when Weiss strategized a victory against an opponent six levels above her.

"Well, yeah, I've played since I was little. And I consider myself a decent tactician," Weiss added airily.

She couldn't see Ruby's mouth drawing into a smile. "Hey Weiss," she said, and for some reason her heart fluttered when Weiss turned around.

"Yes?"

Ruby looked furtive as she edged next to her on the bed. "Have you ever tried a Nuzlocke?"


End file.
